Laugh
by Tehri
Summary: Shunsui always makes Juushirou laugh, and this time is no exception. Implied ShunsuixJuushirou. Disclaimer! I do not own Bleach!


Ukitake Juushirou loved jokes, and he loved to smile and laugh. Many knew this, and would therefore not be surprised at how he could laugh at something his friends said even though it was probably not meant as a joke. He'd always excuse himself by saying "I'm so sorry, but that sounded too funny". He was also probably the only one in Seireitei who could see something funny in something Kyouraku Shunsui said. He knew very well how the Eighth Division's captain liked to get cryptic at times and hide jokes in his sentences, and he was very adept at picking them up. He was also the only one who'd actually laugh at the other man's strange antics. People had a hard time understanding why he'd laugh so much, why he found it funny at all. But then again, they didn't need to know, right? So when a drunken Shunsui would say something strange, he'd be the only person to find it amusing enough to laugh at; and it didn't seem like either of them wanted it any other way. Juushirou could even remember the first time his dearest friend had ever told him a real joke; now, Juushirou had heard jokes before he met Shunsui, true, but they had never been as funny as all the jokes Shunsui could tell. Now when he was older, he couldn't remember the joke itself (Shunsui claimed to remember it perfectly, but he kept avoiding the issue whenever Juushirou would ask him to tell it again), but he could remember how much he had laughed. That had marked the first time he ever fell off a chair while laughing. Naturally, he had started to cough, but he hadn't been able to stop chuckling about it for almost an hour (after which Shunsui vowed to continue telling as many good jokes as possible, because he liked to hear "Juu-chan's beautiful laughter"). Nowadays, no one alive had seen him laugh that much (not counting the sake-loving captain of course).

Juushirou was also a man who knew a lot about other people; this was due to the way they felt that it was alright to talk to him about personal things, because he was good at giving advice and keep secrets. He had even gotten Kenpachi and Byakuya to talk to him a few times (although when it came to Kenpachi, it was only after little Yachiru had caught a cold, and the intimidating captain had actually been worried; Juushirou had just been there for some reason and started to talk to him). Which explained why he knew so well that it took a lot to make Ise Nanao snap. Normally, Nanao could keep herself calm under almost every situation (note the _almost_). In fact, Juushirou had only seen her snap once, and he had promised Shunsui and his own sanity to never speak of it or even think of it again. Ever. At any rate, she was almost always the perfect image of a lady in control (again, note the _almost_). She rarely even snapped at her captain, despite his ways of declaring his love for her and every now and then attempting to make her kiss him or anything of the like. Juushirou could even remember the time when he had visited his old friend, and Nanao had told him that she would not be showing him in due to the sight she'd have to endure in there; the sight had been a very naked Kyouraku Shunsui, who was only wearing his hat (and the hat had actually not been on his head). Juushirou had actually blushed, but then started to chuckle when he closed the door. That Nanao had not gotten angry about it had surprised him, but he found it all very amusing.

But this day, he really had something to laugh about.

As he headed down a street on the way to visit Shunsui again, he suddenly heard someone call his name.

"Oi! Oooii! Juushirou! Shirou! Up here!"

Blinking, he looked up. Blinking again. And stared. Hanging from a roof was a very naked brown-haired man; he hung upside down, his feet tied with what looked like a pink flowery kimono, and he held a straw-hat in front of his more private body parts. Several shinigami stood and stared at him; in fact, even Kenpachi, Byakuya and Hitsugaya were there. Juushirou kept staring for a moment.

"Hey, Juushirou", called the naked and tied up Kyouraku Shunsui with a grin. "I saw you walk down the street! Actually, I saw you three streets ago, but that's not the point! I've got a great view up here, but I think I'd prefer it if I was actually sitting on the roof, with my clothes on! But I can't get up, and I don't know where my clothes are! Could you help me out a bit?"

The other captains glanced at Juushirou, whose body slowly started to shake. Hitsugaya frowned.

"Ukitake", he said. "Is everything alright..?"

A quick nod from the white-haired man.

"Are you certain?" Byakuya raised an eyebrow slightly. "You're shaking..."

Another nod, followed by a quick and deep breath.

"Tch, looks like he's gonna get traumatized by that sight", Kenpachi muttered.

Juushirou still did not look at them, but instead stared up at his old friend, who curiously watched him.

"Uhm... Juu?" Shunsui waved his hand a bit (the one not keeping the hat in place). "You okay there? Help, please?"

Juushirou took another deep breath. And started to laugh. He couldn't hold it back; he laughed and laughed and laughed, stumbled backwards and sank down on the ground, still laughing hysterically at the sight. The other shinigami just stared dumbfounded at him, not quite understanding how he could find this so funny. But when they glanced up at Shunsui, they saw how a wide grin flashed on the naked man's face.

"Alright, so I admit that I can see why this is funny to you", he called. "But really, Juu, my arm is getting tired! I can't hold the hat here all day, and I don't feel like giving everyone a perfect view of my body..." He stopped and thought for a moment. "Okay, scratch that. I don't mind giving them a view, but I don't think they'd like it, so come on and help me down!"

Juushirou didn't move for a while; he just sat there, desperately trying (and failing) to stop laughing. When he finally did get up, he wobbled a lot before he took a few awkwardly swaying shunpo-steps up to his old friend.

"S-sorry, Shun", he gasped between the laughing fits. "I... I just haven't l-laughed this m-much for ages... A-and... I assume that Ise-kun did this?"

Shunsui grinned again and nodded, holding out his free hand to Juushirou.

"Drag me up, will you", he said. "I don't want to fall down. And I'm sorry about any embarrassing views you're getting."

Teasingly, Juushirou patted Shunsui's thigh.

"Like I haven't seen it before", he said, lowering his voice a bit to keep the others from hearing anything. "By the way, what did you do? Nanao doesn't snap so easily?"

Shunsui chuckled as Juushirou dragged him up before he started to work on the knots.

"It seems I wrote her a poem yesterday when I got a bit too drunk", he said. "A fairly improper one, at that. No, make that a very improper one. And she got angry about it, and when I told her I didn't even remember writing anything for her, she got even madder at me and ended up whacking me with her book. And when I woke up, I was naked and hanging here, and she threw my hat at me."

Juushirrou shook his head, still laughing, as he managed to untie his friend. He turned his head a little, blinking as he saw Hitsugaya stand there with Shunsui's clothes.

"Just get dressed", the young captain said and looked away, a faint blush surprisingly enough appearing on his cheeks. "I think we've all been scarred enough as it is."

Shunsui gave him a lopsided grin and grabbed his clothes, quickly getting dressed. Juushirou's laughter had been reduced to chuckling, but the wide smile on his face just wouldn't disappear.

"I needed that", he chuckled. "Sorry for laughing at you, Shun, but it reminded me of that time..."

Shunsui grinned at him and patted his head.

"No problem, Juu-chan", he said. "I know why."

Hitsugaya blinked.

"Juu... chan...?"

Shunsui just chuckled.

"A nickname I gave him back at the Academy", he explained, since Juushirou was still busy with trying to stop chuckling and laughing. "He used to dislike it, but I think he got used to it."

Juushirou took a deep breath and stood up.

"Well", he said. "At least you don't use it as much in public anymore."

When the commotion was over, Shunsui and Juushirou went back to the Eighth Division's captain's chambers, finding a fresh jug of expensive sake on the table along with a note that read: "_Since you read this, I assume you have gotten help to escape from your predicament, Kyouraku-taichou. Please consider this an apology for my insubordination, as well as a reward for being able to make good enough friends to get some help down from there._" They both chuckled and sat down.

"I'm impressed", Shunsui said with a grin as he poured the alcohol. "This stuff is really expensive... Oh, and I'm impressed when it comes to you too, Juu-chan. You laughed that much and you didn't start to cough even once. You've improved."

Juushirou smiled warmly as he accepted a cup.

"That's all thanks to you", he said. "And your jokes. You make me laugh far too much, you know."

Shunsui smiled knowingly as they clicked their cups together.

"That's because I know you, little Shirou", he said. "We'd have a very poor relationship if I didn't know how to make you laugh."


End file.
